Case-SK-4791.0405 | Note #47: Dr. Richard Johnathan Tanner
Under heavy sedation, the White girl's telekinesis is limited to minimal activity. After injecting three times the recommended amount for a young subject of her size, the presence of her abilities was seen only a handful of times since her arrival several months prior. This event happens three of the six instances and just after her bi-monthly visits with Father Brimley, per her mother's request. Mrs. White displayed aggression while insisting that if her daughter was not to be in her possession, then she was to be supervised and made to perform her daily prayers and repentance. In order to preserve the secrecy and sensitive nature of case SK-4791.0405 Mrs. White was admitted to the psychiatric ward located several floors above the one currently containing her daughter. She is granted weekly visits from a member of the church, to accompany and assist her in prayer. Father Brimley and Mrs. White bend over identical bibles and mutter to each other for hours. Mrs. White had expressed intent to harm her daughter while intermingling bible verses into what the majority of society views as delirious outbursts. Only weeks after Carrie was admitted did the thought occur to allow her time with Father Brimley as well, the goal of which was to test her reaction to the taboo habits her mother often enforced. Until the moment of their first interaction, no one at the lab had seen even a glimpse of the real power of Carrie Whites' abilities. Every occurrence in the White girl's life had been relayed by Carrie herself in our sessions, and the survivors of the tragic Prom night at Ewen high to the press. There was no video evidence or photographs taken during the destruction of the town; any film used at the prom burnt up in a matter of minutes. Following each early session, which initially was scheduled to be weekly, the White girl's abilities are amplified through extreme stress and anxiety. As to not interfere with case SK-4791.0405 The visits were reduced to bi-monthly to ensure proper management over her actions. After her visit with Father Brimley, the staff assigned to Carrie's unit reported feeling strong quakes jolting across the linoleum flooring. One of the head Nurses, Alice Smithing, said she had seen Carrie struggling against her restraints, which were firmly attached to the metal frame of her bed. Alice Smithing stated, "It shook so intensely it seemed to vibrate out of the bolts keeping it to the floor. I thought the girl, Ms. White, might be in pain with how she wailed so loudly during the whole ordeal. But…it wasn't pain that child was experiencing, it's clear now that it was relief. Four days later, she flew the coop."
Carrie stared upwards towards the jagged silhouettes of the trees that loomed above her, as she tried to stay awake and replay the last few hours in her head like a terrible movie.
It seemed as if a hundred years went by in the few days it took her to use her mind to turn the bolts of her restraints that kept her chained to the bed. The effort resulted in a headache so achingly deep it felt like she was hit over the head with a hammer.
The metal had a low screech as she turned it bit by bit, and once her left arm was free the feeling of relief burst through her body so fast it caused her to sag against her sheets with a heavy sigh. Almost as if in slow motion the bolts dropped from the strap and clinked to the ground; she held perfectly still in fear of the nurses hearing them roll across the floor. After several minutes Carrie was sure it was safe to move, but could she do it? For days she has been in a foggy state of mind from the drugs that she was administered routinely.
Slowly she sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. A rough grunt passed her lips as she pushed herself up and stumbled over to the door. Peering through the small window Carrie could see the nurses station, and then Dr. Tanner's office to the right of the two large doors with a neon red exit sign overhead that seemed to blaze in the dark hallway.
She waited for the nurse to turn around and sharpen her pencil before she snuck out of her room and shuffled towards her escape. Without being noticed she made it to the exit, her hands gripped the handles to push towards freedom, yet something caught her eye. Dr. Tanner's office door was unexpectedly ajar, and as far as she could make out, was also completely empty. In a split second, she had made the decision to go into the office. Once she slid into the room and closed and locked the door, she hurriedly went over the desk littered with loose papers.
Carrie knew to snoop through someone's stuff was not right, but this was a chance to find her file and know more about the situation she was in. Since the night of prom, all she has been told is that they are going to fix her and that she had done a very bad thing; she had hurt a lot of people, including her Momma. Her hands sifted roughly through the papers, getting her nowhere when she noticed a single gold frame on the corner of the desk. Reaching over and picking it up she began to examine the old black and white photo encased within. The quality was grainy and overexposed, yet appeared to capture a joyful moment as the individuals in it grouped together with broad smiles on every face, and an icy realization came upon Carrie as a younger version of her mother stared back at her. This must have been taken years ago before she was even born.
"I've never once seen momma smile like that" Carrie thought to herself while scanning over her mothers face. There was a bitter feeling rising in her chest as she wished to have grown up with a smiling mother, a happy mother, like the one in the picture.
Carrie was about to place the photograph back on the desk when she noticed something. In the background Dr. Tanner was standing separate from the group of people in the foreground of the photo. His face was of a neutral expression, wrinkles just beginning to set in around his forehead and he wore a slightly downturned mouth. Though his overall appearance was a an open one, it was his eyes that seemed to turn Carries blood cold and cause her hands to shake as she gripped the brass frame around the photo. He had his thick-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, and behind them was the most blood curdling dead-eyed stare Carrie had ever seen, and it was locked onto a soon to be Mrs. White. How Dr. Tanner knew her Momma, she didn't know, but it was clear she needed to get out of this place.
She placed the frame back on the desk and snuck back out the way she came, swiftly going through the exit doors to the right. The doors led to a small hallway with stairs leading down to the left. Carries heart began to pump faster and faster as she took two steps at a time down the stairwell and flung open the emergency door leading outside. The cool night air made the hair on her exposed arms and legs stand up with a full body shiver. With a quick glance around the area she rand along the wall of the building, and luckily she was on the far side that faced a thick cluster of trees.
The drugs hadn't left Carrie's system yet, but her adrenaline gave her the speed she needed to run to the opening of the forest. Thick bushes and tall needled plants blocked her path, causing her to scrape her legs as she pushed herself to keep going. The ground was uneven and the further she wove herself through the trees the harder it was to see where she was going. Her foot caught on an exposed root, causing her to fall onto the cold forest floor with and hit her head with a thud. A groan escaped her mouth, which hung agape from the shock of the impact, and she slowly turned over to stare up at the dark sky that was void of any light. Carrie could sense rather than see the shadows around her dancing in hazy movements. If she could picture what getting drunk was like, she'd imagine it'd feel something like this; she wanted to puke as it got worse.
An attempt to sit up had her eyes rolling around like loose marbles in her skull. Swallowing made her tongue feel heavy in her mouth, like the time she was seven and tried to eat five gumboils at once before she almost choked. Momma had caught her eating the candy before supper and then slapped her so hard the gum flew across the room and bounced under the dining table. The impact of the hit had her cheek turning pink, it deepened as she struggled to take in a quiet breath.
That feeling of an overwhelming sense of fear she felt back then rushed through her veins right now, causing her to choke on air. A quiet rustle and the crunch of leaves registered in her brain as she lay there motionless. Carrie couldn't tell if it was the cold numbing her arms and legs, but she was suddenly aware of the earth beneath her feeling distant like she was floating on air. Blinking furiously against the deep void that swam in front of her eyes, a sharp terror pierced her very core at the realization that she wasn't floating but being carried.
Thick rimmed glasses glittered against the black around her with a downturned mouth below them, both directed at her. The gut-wrenching thought that she almost made it jumped into her mind as the darkness overcame her completely.